The Carr's the star

Jimmy Carr doesn't hang about. Two years ago he was unknown. Last year he got nominated for the Perrier Award. This year he was deemed too famous to be eligible for the Perrier, thanks to his TV work. At this rate he'll be headlining Vegas by Christmas.

Charm Offensive follows the shape of last year's show. Carr rattles off tasty one-liners, unveils some inspired pranks - comedy classifieds he's stuck into real publications - then gets people on stage to help him perform a play, Generation Game-style.

He's quick, slick, never more than a breath away from a good line. No wonder they're warming to him in America.

Carr's supercilious, semi-posh persona lets him breeze through some pretty bracing material. He flirts with misogyny, homophobia and, frankly, far worse. But his gag-heavy disdain always feels like an attack on words and soft thinking, not on individuals.

Carr has always had the lines: 'I do benefit gigs for people like you,' he tells one joker in the front row. But now he has the chutzpah to let his personality guide the material, rather than just numbing us with joke-wattage.

Should he have been a Perrier contender? Well, rules is rules. But Carr is quite something: rude, shrewd, and consistently funny. <

Jimmy Carr